An unpopular sculpture in northeastern New Brunswick has mysteriously gone missing.

While many residents in Caraquet are wondering what happened to the work of art, Mayor Antoine Landry said it likely won’t be missed.

"Well, nobody loved it,” Landry said. "Unfortunately, nobody liked this type of sculpture in front of the hospital."

And it seems that nobody really knew what the fiberglass sculpture represented. To some, it appeared to resemble a starfish on its side.

"Some people were thinking it was representing a star of the sea, but it was only recently that I understood it was supposed to represent a fetus. But people didn’t like it around here," Landry said.

Whatever it is, it has been a fixture in front of the hospital in Caraquet for 15 years, up until last week. That’s when people noticed it was missing.

Landry said the sculpture has been the subject of controversy since the first day it was erected in front of Hôpital de l’Enfant Jesus, and he's trying to find out if hospital officials ordered the removal of the sculpture.

Still, some people in the community are upset by the disappearance of “l’étoile de mer,” or the starfish, as residents nicknamed it.

"I think it’s a work that deserves to be seen again and should be displayed somewhere else in Caraquet," said one man who did not give his name.